Halloween is just a short month away and it is a great time to create memories with the family that will last for every. I have been sharing Halloween ideas for over thirty years, and the most mentioned one is Dinner in a Pumpkin. Now that pumpkins are coming into the stores, it is a great time to serve this fun dinner to your family.

1 small to medium pumpkin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 to 2 pounds ground beef or dark turkey ground

2 tablespoons lite soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cup cooked rice

1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

Cut off the top of the pumpkin and thoroughly clean out seeds and pulp. Paint an appropriate face on the front of the pumpkin with a permanent marking pen or acrylic paint. Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large skillet, sauté onions in oil until tender. Add meat and brown. Drain drippings form skillet. Add lite soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Now, spoon the mixture into the cleaned pumpkin shell. Replace pumpkin top and place entire pumpkin, with filling, on a baking sheet. Bake 1 hour or until inside meat of the pumpkin is tender. put pumpkin on a plate. Remove pumpkin lid and serve heat. For your vegetable, scoop out cooked pumpkin and serve. Serves 6.

Dian Thomas A fun family treat to serve for dinner around Halloween is a hamburger, mushroom meal served in a pumpkin.